


an ordinary day

by trilobites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Body Dysphoria, Falling In Love, Food, Getting to Know Each Other, Hostage Situations, Identity Reveal, Kidnapping, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23865235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trilobites/pseuds/trilobites
Summary: In Hinata Shouyou's third year of high school, a spider bite irrevocably changed his destiny. It's all a familiar story, until it isn't.Or Five Times Miya Atsumu ran into Spider-Man, who may or may not be Hinata Shouyou.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Comments: 37
Kudos: 230





	1. April 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Omotesando, Tokyo, Japan.

The one thing that movies and comic books never mentioned was that bills didn’t get paid on some good will and a job well done. According to the Tokyo PD, Hinata was in possession of neither of those commendable traits. Well, they didn’t say that about Hinata, exactly. He stared down at the news alert on his phone screen: “‘Spider-Man Poses Public Threat’ Says Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.” It was Spider-Man who they hated. Maybe if they did their jobs properly, Spider-Man wouldn’t have to come ensure the safety of civilians, and Hinata could stay at home the way everyone else did when trouble visited the city.

Hinata was scrolling down the page when a new notification from NE-Delivery popped up: ‘Master Pizza Kitchen - Shibuya.’ Sighing, he pressed ‘accept’ on the job and put his phone away. Because bills weren’t paid on some good will and a job well done, and he was as much Hinata Shouyou, food delivery boy, as he was Spider-Man.

He raced past the cyclists and pedestrians in the crowded crosswalk in Shibuya, bits and pieces of colors and conversations flitting into his ears. Someone’s mother was unhappy with her for taking back her boyfriend; one of the balding salarymen had spilled coffee on himself on the way to work that morning; a group of schoolboys were planning on pranking their classmate. Hinata may have intentionally run into the schoolboys, but if anyone asked, it was very difficult to balance an entire stack of pizza boxes.

“Please make sure the cheese doesn’t spill over the crust on the way,” the worker with a pizza apron had said to Hinata. She was a university student who was saving up money for a trip to Fukuoka with her extracurricular club next month. Hinata was responsible for the pizzas she made and making sure Greater Tokyo didn’t fall into the clutches of the likes of Professor Bias and Green Glitch. He had resisted rolling his eyes out when she made the request. Pizza was difficult. People wanted it hot, but no one wanted to accept the fact that hot cheese melted and sloshed around. There was only so fast he could go while keeping the bike steady.

Hinata zipped into Omotesando and shook the boxes in the bag. That usually did the trick. He marked the order as complete on his phone and rang the doorbell to the trendy apartment. The buzzer let him in and he went up the three flights of stairs to apartment 307, where he knocked on the door and came face to face with Miya Atsumu.

At first, he was hit with a strange sense of déjà vu, even though he knew that this was the first time he’d ever been here. Who was this stranger, with a vaguely familiar, handsome face? He stared. The stranger had ash blonde hair, sleepy brown eyes, and a mirthful look in his expression. Then the realization came to Hinata like the shock of touching a metal doorknob. At the same time, Atsumu’s eyes widened.

"Shouyou-kun?”

“Yes, it’s me. Hello, Atsumu-san.” Hinata tried to smile.

“Shit. It really is you. Are you back in Japan? Since whe—”

“Atsumu, are you making the pizza out there? We don’t got all day!”

From behind Atsumu, Hinata saw a group of faces. A flash of black. Hinata recognized the logo from the MSBY Black Jackals on Atsumu’s jacket, with the trademark slash down the middle. The nape of Hinata’s neck prickled with a sudden embarrassment. Last that he’d seen Atsumu, they had been high schoolers on opposite sides of the net. And now Atsumu was a professional volleyball player, and Hinata was handing him a stack of pizzas.

“Three margherita, two seafood one without squid, and one bacon and potatoes,” Hinata recited, from the stickers on the sides of the boxes. He put them into Atsumu’s hands. “Please enjoy.”

“Wait, Shouyou-kun. Uh, maybe now’s not a good time, but I wanted to know…” Atsumu started to say, but Hinata was overcome with a sudden jolt that tingled through his entire scalp. _Danger_ , it told him. He whipped his head around and squinted at the horizon visible from the walkway in front of Atsumu’s door. There was nothing there, but still, the feeling refused to go away.

“Uh, what’re you lookin’ at?”

Shit. Hinata turned back to Atsumu and crowded him backwards into his apartment. It smelled warm, like home cooking and laughter. Atsumu blinked at the sudden intrusion. Hinata didn’t have time to think about what this looked like.

“You should go inside and eat these while they’re still hot. I even kept the cheese on the pies for you! Not that I knew it was going to be you.”

“What?”

 _Danger! Right now!_ Hinata’s brow broke out in a sweat. “Please lock the door! Stay indoors!”

“Shouyou-kun—!”

Hinata abruptly slammed the door closed and hung over the railing of the walkway. In the distance, a familiar and sickly green started to gather in the sky. Pixels. Green Glitch. His phone alert for NE-Delivery went off again. Probably because he was being offered another job. Great. Even if he accepted the job, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to finish the delivery without pitching himself back in the direction where trouble was brewing. Well, first things first. Hinata reached into his backpack and affixed his webslingers to his palms. Then he launched himself off the railing and soared into the great, blue sky.


	2. April 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokyo Metropolitan Gym.

The last time that Hinata had gone to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym, he’d been four years younger and a whole centimeter shorter. He’d also been a normal high schooler, for the most part, except for the part where the spider bite on his arm itched every time he took a bath. The serum that Dr. Ukai had given him had been designed to suppress the effects of the spider bite, until the venom had developed immunity in the spring of Hinata’s third year of high school. Then he wasn’t standing on any more orange courts, or any court at all.

Except right now. Hinata was in the Metro Gym again. The smooth flooring was sliced clean in half, and the crowd of bystanders who hadn’t managed to escape were stuck in between the long, jagged currents of electricity that crackled in the air. Toyota Taro (questionable legality, if anyone asked Hinata) had been dormant for a long winter, most likely in search for his next grand stage on which to promote his villainous Flingstagram page. Apparently, the beloved Metro Gym had been his answer. There was a mobile phone in his hand, presumably to broadcast this live on his Flingstagram account.

To anyone watching, the livestream would include the sight of terrified bystanders and Spider-Man trying to keep things in check as Taro flickered the lights on and off the gymnasium ceilings in an endless and psychedelic rhythm. Endowed with Spider Senses Hinata might have been, but there was no getting denying that this was disorienting. Add in the fact that the floor had been sliced open clean and the second story structure decimated with one of Taro’s electric whips, and there was a true recipe for disaster.

The very least Taro could have done was come when there hadn’t been a game on-going. Hinata informed him of this as he glued open a pair of automatic doors that had refused to budge.

“Do you honestly understand anything, Spider-Man? Right now is prime time! I’ve got bills to pay. If you knew anything you’d take a selfie or two and sell it to the tabloids.”

Bills again. Like Hinata lived on air. “Ever thought that maybe if you had a real job, you wouldn’t have to do this?”

“And waste away in the corporate ladder? No thanks. You know, I did try to have a normal job once, but my boss was seriously like a tarantula, ready to come eat us when we were weak. Oh, sorry, no offense…” He went on at length, and Hinata knew that he was in for another thirty seconds of whatever monologue came to Taro’s mouth.

Hinata ushered the stream of bystanders toward the door, and they uttered their shaky thanks as they ran towards the fire escape. He was about to close the heavy automatic door when an unsettling sensation came over him. _Danger! Danger!_ To the left? _No!_ Right? _No!_ Where? Above? As soon as he thought it, Hinata glimpsed from the corner of his eye, a figure hanging from the second story ledge. The flickering made it difficult to see, but there was the unmistakable outline of legs. Shit. Double shit.

Hinata aimed with his webslinger at Taro. A shot in the dark. If he could hit him, then maybe the lights would behave. A lucky shot: he’d gotten Taro right in the head (“Argh! Fuck you, Spider-Man!”). At least for now, the lights were a constant dark, and Hinata could swing up to the second story where the person was hanging.

Hinata came close and announced himself: “I’m here to help you get down.”

The person turned their head, and that was how Hinata was greeted by the sight of Miya Atsumu once more. His face was pale as a sheet, sweat dripping down his cheek. A scrape oozed red on his forehead.

“Holy shit, Atsumu-san,” he gasped.

“The fuck? Spider-Man? How the hell do you know my name?”

Hinata snapped out of his surprise, and pulled Atsumu in by the waist. “Uh, because…I’m a Jackals fan. Just a regular guy!”

Atsumu stared at him in disbelief. Hinata blew out air from between his teeth.

“Hold on.”

“Wait, what? ‘M not holdin’ on! Can this stringy shit even hold us both?”

In spite of the scathing in his words, there was genuine fear in his eyes. His entire body was trembling in Hinata’s grip. Of course. Because launching yourself off skyscrapers and getting into scrapes with super villains wasn’t a normal way to live, and for all his extraordinary talent, Atsumu was living a normal life in the end. He clutched on tight to Hinata’s neck and his heart thumped hard in his chest pressed up against Hinata’s ribcage. His shriek was loud in Hinata’s ear.

When they reached the floor of the gymnasium, Atsumu let go, but Hinata didn’t let go of him.

“Can you stand?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Stubborn. It was obvious to see how much Atsumu’s knees were still quaking. How was he supposed to let Atsumu run off by himself now? Hinata tightened his hold on Atsumu’s waist, deceptively slender for all the bulk that he carried.

“Let me help you outside.”

“Uh.”

Right then, the windows shattered, and crystals fell in a rainbow drizzle to the ground. Through the hole where there had once been a wall came a new group—Ego Spinner, Spiral X, and Dante Destructo. They looked smugly between where Hinata stood with Atsumu and where Taro was still working the web fluid off his face.

“Taro, seriously?”

“Look, it’s not my fault he just shows up everywhere!”

Spiral X came over to help him, and at the same time, Ego Spinner smiled at Hinata, menacing and with her teeth. Hinata felt Atsumu’s hand inch closer. “Spider-Man,” he called out, voice wavering.

“Looks like the Spider has some food with him today.”

“You don’t need to hurt him. He’s only a civilian,” Hinata said.

“Ha! In case you haven’t noticed, that’s kind of our whole thing here, Spider-Man. You know how it works: we come, people die, clickity click then cha-ching.”

As she spoke, a shadow encroached, and Hinata’s entire stomach flip-flopped in the absolute worst way. His eyes widened. Behind them stood tall someone who was even worse news than all of them combined: Professor Bias. 

“Well, well, Taro and friends. Oh, and of course, Little Spider. Long time no see!” The mint green oni mask he wore obscured his face behind demonic eyelets and horns protruding from the lips and forehead. It clashed with the white lab coat he wore, no matter the season or occasion. On his arm under the sleeve was the gauntlet that housed a symbiote in one of its chambers.

“What the hell are you doing here, old man?” Taro spat.

Professor Bias laughed and turned to him. “You didn’t invite me, Taro. Maybe I want some of those ‘clickity-clicks,’ too.”

Ego Spinner’s teeth clenched, and it was clear that this would break out into a three-way brawl before the evening was out. Atsumu wouldn’t stand a chance. Hinata stood in front of Atsumu, who was looking at him like he wasn’t sure what to make of any of this. Hinata couldn’t blame him. How ludicrous all of this was. He’d just seen Atsumu the other day as a pizza delivery boy, and now he was standing here in an orange suit with webslingers attached to his palms. At the very least, he’d get Atsumu to safety and that would be the end of this acquaintance.

“Atsumu. I know I’m just a stranger in a mask, but can you trust me to get you out of here?”

“What about you? Are you just gonna come back in here?”

“Of course not,” he said, turning back to Atsumu. Normally it was difficult for Hinata to lie. The words would rest on the tip of his tongue and refuse to budge, but the way Atsumu visibly relaxed made it feel like he wasn’t lying for his own sake. “Just hold on tight.”

Atsumu did, and this time, he didn’t shriek. He didn’t say anything at all, burying his face into Hinata’s neck and shaking like a leaf in the wind. Hinata leaped out of the hole in the wall and took them down to the blockade of police cars. The wind roared in his ears, and the rotary motion of red and blue lights cast everything in an ominous wash of color. As soon as they landed, Atsumu opened his eyes and let out a loud sigh.

“We made it!” Atsumu patted himself down and looked at Hinata, eyes alight with relief and adrenaline. Hinata let go of him at last. One of the police officers in the blockade was coming closer to collect Atsumu. Hinata warily eyed the assault weapons on the standard police issue belt.

“That’s my cue to go.”

“Go where?”

Hinata brushed back Atsumu’s hair off his forehead. “Take care of the cut here,” he said. “Your fans will be sad if anything happens to you.”

Atsumu paused. Then a look of realization came over him. “The fuck? You said!”

Atsumu reached for him, but Hinata was faster. He secured his web to the tall lamppost in front of the Metro Gym. In the split second before he was pulled backwards, he saw the expression of betrayal and agitation on Atsumu’s face. He was silly. Anyone else would have guessed that this had been Hinata’s plan the entire time. This was the hero’s lot in life, after all. Hinata didn’t know whether he was a hero, but he knew that he would lie again to Atsumu if it meant getting him out of that gymnasium. 

“Fuck you, Spider-Man!” Atsumu roared in the distance as Hinata bounded back into the Gym.

It was the hero’s lot in life, after all.


	3. May 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokyo Bay.

Thanks to Toyota Taro’s Flingstagram livestream of the incident in the Metropolitan Gym, Spider-Man’s notoriety had grown nearly two-fold since. His most fervent admirers had compiled photos of him in a Flingstagram account, which didn’t bother him. But nearly four weeks in, the follower count had reached nearly 2 million and the account owners had begun to monetize the account. With his likeness! Hinata was still sitting on the account, wondering whether he should report it and start his own. He’d never set out on a path to make money from this, and it didn’t feel right to start doing so now. That wasn’t even the only problem that was beginning to unfold.

No, the much bigger problem at hand was the fact that he kept running into Miya Atsumu. If it were through the normal routines of living, then he would be able to brush it off, but there was no way to classify rescuing someone from the clutches of supervillains as normal.

On this particular afternoon, Atsumu had been thrown off from the starboard side of the Seashine Oceanliner. Three seconds ago. It was a cliché better suited to a blockbuster film than reality: make a choice, Spider-Man. Will it be the boy or the villain? Of course, there had been no choice, and that was why Hinata was falling into the Tokyo Bay after Atsumu. The sheer terror in Atsumu’s eyes as he broke the surface of the bay made Hinata’s teeth grit.

“Atsumu, hold on!” He shouted as loudly as he could, but it was likely that Atsumu couldn’t hear much in that moment.

Hinata plunged into the water, and then it was a battle against the currents created by the busy back and forth of transport ships—none of which had seen either of them in the bay waters. Summers spent swimming in giant lakes in Miyagi didn’t compare to this. He managed to grab ahold of Atsumu by the waist and keep them head above the water.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No.” Atsumu was scowling. Hinata could sympathize. This was the third time in as many weeks.

“Okay. Then you know the drill.”

“Yeah, yeah. I hold on ’n let your freaky strong string take us somewhere safe.” Atsumu grasped onto Hinata’s shoulders with practiced ease and allowed him to attach a shot of his web to the back of a container ship that was headed to port.

The week before had been a jaunt through a den of snakes in Ueno Zoo and the week before that being strapped down to the base of the needle atop Docomo Tower in Yoyogi.

“Just so y’know: I’m stayin’ the fuck at home next week.”

Hinata couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice when he asked, “And miss out on meeting like this?”

Atsumu snorted. “Like you woulda met with me if I wasn’t being some kinda princess in distress.”

“Well, you do make a good princess.”

Atsumu’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, his face flushing pink. Hinata nearly bit his tongue. Having his face hidden behind a mask meant it was easy to speak without thinking about consequences. He busied himself with finding a reliable railing on the stern of the ship, where he pulled them both to a dry landing spot. They sat on the sun-warm deck and said little as they caught their breaths.

“Don’t you, y’know, gotta go after the bad guy?”

Hinata opened the pouch strapped to the thigh holster on his suit and took out the remote control. “Took care of it.”

“What’s that?”

Hinata pressed the button. “Shocking device.”

“What? The hell is that!”

Atsumu looked aghast and managed to knock the device out of Hinata’s hands before Hinata could hold it out of the way. Hinata watched in dismay as the remote sank to the bottom of the bay.

“Why do you have something like that anyway?” Atsumu demanded.

He sighed deeply and thought about Tsukishima visiting him with the toys just last week. He’d held up the shocking device with a particular look of glee in his indolent expression. Now he would have Hinata’s head on a plate for losing his precious invention.

“‘The bad guy’ is a pirate who murders and terrorizes people.” Then he turned back to the sparkling water of the bay. A slew of police helicopters flew over the bay, and said pirate would be apprehended soon enough.

“Doesn’t mean you gotta do that!”

“Even though he kidnapped you?”

“Whatever. Whatever. Sounds like a buncha excuses from where I’m sittin’.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “But thanks anyway. For savin’ me. Again.”

Hinata could have said something easy and breezy like “no problem,” but that wouldn’t have been truthful. Not that any part of this was. Here he was, sitting in front of Atsumu with his face concealed and knowing more about Atsumu than Atsumu knew about him. Hinata hadn’t meant to continue getting involved with him after that first time at the Metro Gym, but somehow word had gotten around that Spider-Man would come running to save Miya Atsumu if one could just get their hands on him.

The problem was that they weren’t wrong. He couldn’t let anything befall Atsumu, even if it wasn’t for the romantic reasons that his enemies supplied. Hinata hardly knew Atsumu past their short connection as opponents in high school volleyball. But how would he convince them to stop making Atsumu the victim of their plans?

“It’s kind of my fault to begin with,” he said. “I’m sorry. In a perfect world, we would never have reason to meet.”

Atsumu suddenly fell silent. Hinata looked over at him and saw that his brow was furrowed. So he was upset. Hinata supposed he had every right to be. Any pattern of normalcy in his life had been totally disrupted. The scab on his forehead had only finally fallen off, revealing new, soft skin that matched the rest of his unblemished face. Hinata really didn’t know him very well, and certainly not well enough to guess what he was thinking. All he knew was that Atsumu was driven and spirited and a little wild. He would chase after the things he wanted without wavering, supervillains and heroes or no.

“I don’t know whether I’ll be able to make your life go back to normal again, but I promise that I’ll always come for you, Atsumu.”

Atsumu’s brow smoothed out and the corner of his mouth lifted. He smacked Hinata’s chest with the back of his hand. “You better. Snakes really fuckin’ scare me.” 

Hinata laughed at that. “You did scream pretty loudly.”

“I was in a pit of snakes, asshole!”

“Your brother would never have let you live that down.” Hinata imagined Osamu teasing Atsumu for his screams of terror and felt a little more reassured. If nothing else, at least Atsumu wasn’t alone.

Instead of protesting like Hinata expected, Atsumu only hummed thoughtfully. “Mm, yeah. You’re right.”

The bay waters were clear and the afternoon sun reflecting off of them sent shimmering pockets of light slicing through the horizon. Hinata leaned back on his hands and was the most at ease next to Atsumu that he had since meeting him again in Japan. Even if it was built on half-truths and conversations held through a mask, Hinata didn’t feel as much like he was hiding anymore.


	4. June 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miya Onigiri, Tokyo Branch.

A series of frustrating conversations with Tsukishima, followed up by a call from Yachi, led Hinata to reporting the Flingstagram page and registering for his own. Now a blue checkmark rested next to his account handle, _spider_danshi_ (because _spiderman_ had been taken by some grad student in New York City), and the aerial selfies he was able to take easily raked in hundreds of thousands of followers. Getting the followers was the only easy part, though. He still couldn’t shake off feeling responsible for the millions living in Greater Tokyo, or the notifications from his credit card carriers that his bills were due. So off Hinata went on his bike each morning to deliver food to harried salary workers and fellow freelancers working off the clock.

That afternoon’s delivery was brought to him courtesy of Miya Onigiri. He’d debated with himself for an entire thirty seconds whether to accept the job, but ended up accepting, figuring that he would only see Osamu for a brief moment. He was wrong. He was greeted at the door by Atsumu, who was leaning his cheek on his elbow against the lacquered counter. It was too late to leave now; the bell over the door’s threshold jingled loudly to announce his arrival.

“Welcome to Miya Onigiri,” Atsumu said in a bored tone, attention directed downwards at a magazine. Hinata recognized the layout of Volleyball Monthly. Of course.

Hinata cleared his throat. “I’m here for a delivery.”

Atsumu froze, then looked up at Hinata, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. “Shouyou-kun.”

“Um, hello, Atsumu-san.” The curiosity in his gaze made Hinata flush under the brim of his NE-Delivery logo cap. “Did I come too early?”

“Nah. Well, sorta, but Samu’s almost done.”

“Oh, then I can wait outside—”

“No, wait!” Atsumu leaped up from his seat and came closer. “You don’t have to! You can sit here. It’s hot out.”

Hinata had half a mind to refuse, but he couldn’t think of any good reason to do so. He nodded and came to sit at the counter, a careful seat apart from Atsumu. A strange silence came over the restaurant. Where had all of his ease gone? The one that had him pulling Atsumu towards him in moments of crisis and making casual conversation on the top of Docomo Tower. Well, as far as Atsumu knew, the last time that the two of them had met was when Hinata had pushed him backwards into his apartment and slammed the door in his face. Not his finest moment. No wonder Atsumu was being so awkward. Hinata tried not to do the same.

“Are you visiting your brother?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorta. I’m on medical leave right now, what with getting kidnapped and all.”

Of course Hinata knew, because he’d been the one to witness said kidnappings. He answered smoothly, “Oh, so that’s why you haven’t been playing with MSBY!” 

“Uh, yeah. But I was goin’ nuts indoors all day. So I’ve been helping Samu out at the store. Got the Miya Onigiri uniform and everything.”

Atsumu pointed to the black t-shirt with the Miya logo on the chest. Somehow Hinata didn’t get the sense that he was doing much more than dressing the set. The thought made him smile.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

Atsumu deflated. “I help out with the…uh, the other stuff.”

“Yes, you seem like a very competent greeter.”

“Seriously? Shove it!”

Hinata smothered his laughter behind his hand. It turned the look of indignation on Atsumu’s face into something softer, and the air around them relaxed. Suddenly, details like the smooth surface of the lacquer countertop and the woody scent of Atsumu’s hair mousse were noticeable. It felt dangerous to be so comfortable when they weren’t so familiar with each other at all. This was what he got for lying through his teeth.

“Well, enough about me. When did you come back to Japan? How come I haven’t seen you?”

Because Hinata had spent the past six years fighting against the spider venom running through his veins. What if he said that? Then maybe Atsumu would laugh nervously and not be so friendly towards him anymore. Hinata was surprised at the disappointment that suddenly surged within him. The easiness in the air shattered, and he tensed up again.

“I was abroad for a little bit.” Learning how to handle the changes within his body, which had become a stranger to him overnight. The eyes and ears always present at home had made that kind of exploration impossible, so Hinata had run away and become a nobody until he’d been forgotten. “Um, then I came back to Japan. And now I’m here. The end.”

Atsumu blinked, clearly bewildered, and didn’t supply any further comment. Hinata looked down. Hadn’t he said that in hopes of pushing Atsumu away? He should have been relieved that it had worked. For some reason, he wasn’t.

“I’ll go check on the food,” he said.

“Shouyou-kun.” Atsumu put a hand over his wrist, delicate fingers coming to wrap around the bones. Setter’s fingers. His skin was pale next to Hinata’s sun-browned skin, cool and dry. His expression held little of its usual cheerfulness; there was only a quiet solemnity in his eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t need to keep leavin’.”

“What?” The words were simple, but they were loaded with a significance that he couldn’t place.

“Every time I try to talk to you, you’re runnin' off.”

“I’m not. And there are a lot of things happening, besides.” The only time he’d run was during the pizza delivery before, Hinata wanted to argue. That wasn’t the truth, though. He’d run away from Atsumu many times before and after that, too, even when Atsumu hadn’t known that Hinata was the one who’d been running from him. Hinata frowned up at Atsumu, who hadn’t stopped looking at him.

“Can’t you stay?”

“I’m not running,” he repeated, trailing off. Warmth and anticipation swelled between them. Hinata didn’t pull back when Atsumu gripped his shoulder or when he leaned down. The tips of their noses brushed, and Atsumu’s breath was hot on his lips. His eyes fell closed without him even thinking.

“Sorry for makin’ you wait. Here’s the food—oh, uh.”

Hinata nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Osamu’s voice. His forehead bumped against Atsumu’s, and they both let out an emphatic cry of pain.

“The hell? Your skull’s fuckin’ hard!”

Hinata rubbed his own throbbing forehead. “Well, I’m sorry! Yours isn’t exactly a pillow either!”

Then he remembered that Osamu was still standing there. His face burned, and he could barely face Osamu long enough to greet him. “Hello, Osamu-san.”

“Huh, thought that orange hair looked familiar. Didn’t think we’d meet here of all places, shrimpy.”

Hinata grimaced. Osamu had never been particularly friendly, but the disapproval in his voice was loud and clear. “It’s for work. And I was just leaving.”

Osamu snorted and handed the bag to Hinata. “Yeah, ‘workin’.’ I see that.”

“Fuck off, Samu!”

Hinata was too mortified to take a stand on either side. And now that he had the food in hand, there were no more excuses to stick around. He mumbled out his goodbyes to Osamu and paused for a moment in front of Atsumu, whose own face was a bright red. Hinata had faced down the likes of supervillains and terrorists, but right now, it was the most difficult thing to meet Atsumu’s eyes.

“Goodbye, Atsumu-san,” he murmured, and didn’t wait for a response before he ran out into the scalding summer afternoon sun and climbed onto his bike. There were too many thoughts crowding his head, and the only recourse when that happened was to pedal harder. Hinata did just that—across the pitch black asphalt through the city, where his fleeting destination changed from moment to moment.


	5. July 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JAXA, Chofu, Tokyo, Japan.

Hindsight was false clarity. Since the venom had first taken over Hinata, he’d heard that countless times from well-meaning friends and family who had hoped to assuage his unhappiness: there had been no way to avoid his present misfortunes, and so his myriad regrets were meaningless. The thought had never made him feel better before, and it certainly didn’t make him feel better now as he watched Professor Bias descend in the glass elevator in the JAXA atrium. Atsumu stood at his side, wrists bound behind his back and brow dark. Hinata stood his ground and waited for the pair to come out of the sliding elevator doors. Professor Bias threw up a peace sign at him.

“Little Spider, I knew you would come! But something tells me it isn’t to see me.” Then he jostled Atsumu next to him. “Aren’t you going to say your hellos?”

Atsumu snarled, “Fuck off.”

“Where are your manners?” The Professor turned to Hinata. “Your dog needs some training, Little Spider.”

Hinata was tired. The Tokyo summer had been long, and villain activity had been on an upwards incline through the weeks. Of course Professor Bias chose now to launch whatever grand plan he had been cooking up all the while. None of this was supposed to include Atsumu, who was struggling in the Professor’s grip. Hinata’s chest tightened at the sight.

“What do you want? Tell me, and I’ll do it. Don’t involve someone who’s done nothing to you.”

“Hmm, justice? Two hundred million yen? Maybe a latte. Do you think Starbucks is open?”

“Oikawa-san.”

The Professor—Oikawa—paused, before he lifted up the oni mask to reveal his face. He looked as tired as Hinata felt, with dark circles under his eyes that spoke to many sleepless nights. His hair was still chocolate brown and eyes still wide, devoid of the wonderment with which he’d looked at the infinite cosmos when he was younger.

“You really had to go and blow my cover,” Oikawa sighed.

“And just who the fuck is that?” Atsumu asked loudly.

“Atsumu, please,” Hinata groaned.

“Hey, yankee, have I mentioned that I have a fucking symbiote in here?” Oikawa lifted his wrist and waved his gauntlet around. “Little Spider, let’s make that two lattes, since your boyfriend here can’t shut his mouth.”

“Look: we can both agree that you’ve got my attention. Can we just let him go home?”

Oikawa huffed and shoved Atsumu, who stumbled towards Hinata. He caught him before he could fall. Enhanced strength or no, Atsumu was very tall and consequently, also heavy. Hinata heaved him back upright and reached around to undo the cuffs around his wrists.

“Seriously, the fuck is that guy?” he asked.

Atsumu’s bravado was only skin deep; his hairline was damp with sweat. Hinata smoothed down his hair and smiled behind the mask. He was big enough to admit that he wanted to kiss Atsumu in this moment.

“Atsumu, I’m sorry you’re here. But you have to make a run for it.”

“This shit again. What about you? You want me to just leave you alone here?”

Before he could answer, Oikawa snapped, “I let him go because you asked nicely, not so you could be get lovey-dovey in front of me. Have some consideration!”

Then he slid open the compartment of his gauntlet housing the symbiote, which trickled down the length of his forearm and began winding its way around Oikawa’s body in a slow creep. _Danger! Danger!_ his senses screamed, sending a harsh tingle through every fiber of his being. Yeah, no fucking kidding.

“Shit.” Hinata grabbed Atsumu by the shoulders. “Atsumu, you need to leave. Now. That thing eats people.”

“What?”

“Humans. Human flesh.”

Hinata had seen the symbiote ingest an entire pedestrian in one go before; its maw had opened wide to reveal a blood red tongue and rows of razor sharp teeth primed to slash its victims into digestible pieces. Apparently its favorite was human liver. No matter how close Oikawa was to the symbiote as its host, Hinata didn’t trust that he had any measure of control over it—certainly not enough to restrain it from eating Atsumu. At least this seemed to put a real sense of fear into Atsumu, who broke out into a fresh wave of cold sweats. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple.

“But you’re a human, too,” he said, voice barely above a whisper.

Hinata stared at him, stunned. The venom had changed him irreparably, and it had been so long since he’d even felt like himself, much less like a person at all. Yet here Atsumu was, saying it like it was all just a fact. His heart overflowed impossibly, recklessly, and he realized that he would do anything if it meant protecting Atsumu. Foolish, loving Atsumu who didn’t even think about resenting Spider-Man for turning his life upside down. He cradled Atsumu’s face in his hands.

“You’re stupid, aren’t you?”

Atsumu clutched onto his arm. “Shouyou-kun, I love you.”

If hindsight was false clarity, then it meant that only in retrospect could Hinata have foreseen this outcome. If he were honest with himself, then he would know that that was a lie. A part of him had always hoped that Atsumu would accept him for exactly what he was, and so he’d never stopped him from coming into contact with him—either Hinata Shouyou or Spider-Man.

“Then you’re really stupid,” he said, unable to keep the fondness out of his voice. _Danger! Danger! Really big fucking danger!_ Hinata let go of Atsumu. “You need to go now. Please. For me.”

Atsumu bit his lip. “Just don’t die.”

“And risk making you mad? No way.”

“Stop fuckin’ flirting with me right now!”

A familiar growl came from behind them, and it jostled both of them into motion. Hinata caught only a glimpse of Atsumu as he sprinted out of the atrium and left him with Oikawa Tooru and the symbiote to which he played host. The entire forest green mass of it was now enveloping all of Oikawa; his face was replaced by two white eyelets and in place of his mouth was the telltale jaw.

“So charming that Miya Atsumu. Do you figure he’d taste good?” Oikawa asked.

Hinata struck first, without a single word, and pressed his advantage with his speed. The tang of blood was thick in the air, making his nostrils flare with it. Hinata’s world narrowed down to the fight before him. His senses were in high gear to alert him to every movement in the atrium. Peril and injury were certain, but it didn’t shake the calm in the core of him. He wouldn’t die tonight, not when he had someone to return to after it all ended. There were new promises for him to keep.


	6. July 6, 2am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Omotesando, again.

One of Spider-Man’s convenient abilities was accelerated healing. After winning a fight against a flesh-eating symbiote, this meant that he only had a split lip and bruised ribs by the time he got to Atsumu’s apartment. His stomach ached, and he needed to sleep for approximately a day and a half before he could get on a bike again. It was an ungodly hour, and the only transportation that he’d been able to take was a taxi, driven by a terrified driver who hardly met Spider-Man’s eyes. Despite the time, Hinata rang Atsumu’s doorbell. From the other side of the door were loud crashes and a blue streak of curses before the door flew open.

Atsumu stood in the threshold, furious and relieved at once. Hinata watched with interest as the expressions on his face played out in rapid succession.

“You,” Atsumu hissed.

“Me.” Hinata stood in his shorts and t-shirt, like it was normal to have bandages wrapped up around the entire length of his arm and plasters on his cheeks. “Am I allowed inside?”

Atsumu didn’t answer him. He just threw his arms around Hinata and buried his face into the crook of his neck. There was a tremor running through Atsumu’s body, the only indication that he’d been fearful of what the end of this night would bring. Hinata slowly brought his arms up around Atsumu’s shoulders. He stroked the back of Atsumu’s head.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“Shut up. Shut the fuck up.”

The hum of the building’s central air and the quiet beep from Atsumu’s electric kettle was steady, like the ins and outs of Atsumu’s breath against his skin. All of Hinata’s aches and pains faded away in the warmth of Atsumu’s arms. He closed his eyes and leaned against Atsumu. Eventually, he let Atsumu pull him inside, into the warm smell of laughter and home cooked meals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this fanciful story. I struggled a bit with placing these characters in such a removed universe, but hope that it rang true to them. Even in an alternate universe, Atsumu remains a volleyball freak through and through.
> 
> Please go to my author page and hit "subscribe" for updates straight to your inbox. I am on [twitter](http://twitter.com/catspizzas) most days.


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